Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 1, 2021

If there are any younger boys aged from maybe 11 to 14 out there (along with the truth) who are just getting their first overwhelming doses of testosterone and who may be reading this, Escape from Area 51 could be the perfect Hallowe'en comedy for you, since it features the buxom Donna D'Errico in a leading role, and the film virtually wallows in adolescent hormonal energy. Older viewers may get a guffaw or two along the way (some unintentional, but who's counting?) in this low budget exercise which has some hilariously cheap sets combined with almost competent looking CGI, along with a few actually commendable practical effects, in a story that sees alien warrior Sheera (Donna D'Errico) busting loose from her seemingly self-imposed captivity at Area 51 during the so-called Storm Area 51 event of several years ago. Escape from Area 51 can at times almost attain a level of giddiness that is kinda sorta enjoyable, as in a pre-credits sequence that purports to be a "training video" for would be alien interlopers to a little blue planet some of us call home. Unfortunately, the comedy isn't always consistent, and it's arguable that for every "hit" there is at least one "miss". The film proper starts out with what appears to be an intermingling of actual footage of some respondents to "invitations" (delivered via Facebook and other similar venues) arriving at this "alien party" along with what I assume is newly shot material, and there's one kind of decently funny moment early on when a bunch of characters are suddenly dispatched by a goofy looking flying saucer and the viewer is then informed that since these folks are dead, other respondents are going to need to be located, at which point the film segues to a new set of kids heading out into the Nevada desert to look for little green men and/or larger curvy women.

One of those aforementioned unintentionally funny aspects to Escape from Area 51 is that in this version the titular (yes, you young boys, I just said titular) region seems to be manned (and/or womanned) by only two people, Dr. Landress (Veronica Farren) and Henry (Leon M. Brown). That dearth of supervisory personnel might suggest to some that "storming Area 51" might be a pretty easy proposition, but the film instead simply has Sheera, who just kind of materializes in what looks like an abandoned storeroom, then just use a high tech device to get her out of any perceived "stir". That at least provides an opportunity for this ostensible alien babe to finally interact with some of the goofy younger humans who have been attracted to the event and are on the hunt for adventure. In the meantime, Sheera's compatriot Kyra (Anouk Samuel) is herself captured, and there's a kind of evil alien villain named Sklarr (Chris Browning) also looking for Sheera.

There's an affable enough ambience in Escape from Area 51 at times, but the film is simply too scattershot to ever really register, especially comedically. There are "found footage" moments, especially with regard to the humans out in Area 51 traipsing around in environments that seem at times a bit too verdant to be in the middle of a desert. But there are also totally gonzo cutaways to things like supposed commercials for an alien dating site, as well as other bizarre elements like singing and dancing, all of which ends up feeling like writers Ted Chalmers, Carlos Perez and Eric Mittleman (who also directed) were simply throwing as much "stuff" at their celluloid wall as they could muster, hoping something would stick.

The good news is that the cast seems only too aware of the ridiculousness of it all, and there's a decent winking quality to many of their performances. Even so, there are some pretty wide variances in acting competency here, though D'Errico acquits herself reasonably well, especially given the often lame material she's been handed. The production design is almost laughably minimal, though a few CGI effects are reasonably effective, and some of the other special effects which include things like people exploding from magical energy beams which emanate from Sheera's hands actually look pretty decent, all things considered. With sharper writing and a much more judiciously focused perspective, Escape from Area 51 might have been good, schlocky fun, riffing on films like Queen of Outer Space (which were themselves often laughably bad). Instead, this is a kind of odd grabbag of material that may satisfy younger boys in search of (alien?) eye candy, but which will probably fail to impress anyone looking for sustained entertainment value.

Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Escape from Area 51 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cleopatra Entertainment and MVD Visual with an MPEG-2 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is yet another head scratcher from Cleopatra, not just in terms of a now largely dispensed with codec being used for the main feature, but by the added insult to injury that the brief supplements included on this disc are all encoded via the more contemporary AVC method. While this is a very flat and kind of shallow looking presentation, it pops extremely agreeably and detail levels are typically quite good. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the MPEG-2 regimen or otherwise inartful compression, there are a number of anomalies that can be spotted, including posterizing (especially when some of the more lurid purples and blues appear), macroblocking and banding.

Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I hate to sound like a broken record, pun unavoidable considering that this is both the audio section of the review and the fact that Cleopatra is known for its musical offerings, but why this label continues to offer Blu-rays with only lossy audio is another headscratcher, at least to me. It's especially unfortunate in this case since Escape from Area 51 offers an, um, eclectic assortment of source cues, which at least receive a decent presentation on the bonus soundtrack CD that's included. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks on this disc offer an okay presentation within lossy confines, but is that good enough? Your audiophile reviewer thinks not, and the score above reflects that.

Note: As you can see by the screenshot of the Main Menu in the twentieth image slot included with this review, there's no Audio submenu. You can toggle between the Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks via the audio button on your remote.

Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Frankie Sixx - Behind the Scenes (HD; 00:49) is a brief encounter of the sixxth kind.


• Slideshow (HD; 2:48)


• Escape from Area 51 - Trailer (HD; 1:30)


• Soundtrack CD

Additionally, trailers for other releases from Cleopatra Entertainment are included.

Escape from Area 51 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's actually a kind of amiable quality to Escape from Area 51 that makes it decently agreeable, it's just that it's never all that funny. Acting acumen varies pretty markedly between some of the performers, but D'Errico is actually quite a bit of fun as the alien damsel not really in very much distress. Cleopatra continues to offer Blu-rays that could stand some improvement in both video and audio presentations, for those who are considering making a purchase.